Ultimate strides defeat the field

By Tim O’Connor (HRV)

One of the Group 3s on Saturday night’s card at Tabcorp Park Melton was the I Didnt Do It Trotters Free For All and it was the classy Ultimate Stride that prevailed.

At only his third run since arriving at Chris Lang’s stables, the 2019 Redwood Classic and Breeders Crown two-year-old champ produced a tough display to defeat a quality field.

He had to sustain a wide run throughout the last lap, but did enough to beat the sprint-laning Travel Bug (Jason McNaulty/Ryan Sanderson) by just over a metre with early leader Mclovin (Andy and Kate Gath) third.

“I think he got potted a little bit after his first start (eighth in the Vulcan Trotters Free For All on April 30), but with all the troubles he had, he’s done very well,” Lang, who was also at the controls on Saturday night, said.

“There’s very few horses that have a record like his…”

Ultimate Stride was trained in New Zealand by Phil Williamson through the early part of his career, and after a successful trip to Australia that reaped two big wins in 2019, he was sent to Lang full-time last year.

The master trotting trainer said foot problems had kept the son of Love You off the scene for some time, but he’s now working towards top fitness and starting to show he’ll fit in nicely among the growing group of squaregaiting stars in this state.

Ultimate Stride has won 13 of 23 career races and boasts well over $200,000 in prizemoney.

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in the 24 May 2022 edition
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